Royal Standard, Deptford, SE8

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Rex Rattus left this review about Royal Standard

There was no real ale on in here - the lone handpump hiding at the far end of the bar counter was not in use when I visited. There are some less usually seen keg (some might call them "craft") lagers, such as Lucky Jack, which is an American style pale ale brewed by an unpronouncable brewery in Stavangar, Norway, and Big Wave, from the Kona Brewery in Hawaii. The latter was £2.50 a half, but it had presumably travelled a long way to get to St Johns. This is the sort of place where you are given your change with a receipt. I guess this must now count as a gastropub judging by the prices and the stuff available (for some reason I didn't have the enthusiasm to list the menu items and prices). The kitchen doesn't open until 5.00 PM - or at least it didn't on the Wednesday afternoon when I dropped in.

This is obviously an old traditional pub whose interior has clearly been wrecked - others may say that it has been given a modern and quirky twist. There's the typical exposed brick wall; some reclaimed wood is on another wall; the modern bar counter front is painted a sort of distressed blue/grey; and the ceiling has some sort of wooden thing on it as decor presumably. There are several bits of artwork painted directly on the walls and ceilings - the ceiling has an opening blasted through the ceiling painted on it showing a blue sky above it, and one of the wall has painted on it an aeroplane crashing through. All very surreal.

All of the modern canteen style tables were laid for diners (obviously I sat at one to drink my half of Big Wave), with a clutch of sofas at the back. This struck me as a caff pretending to be a pub. The only other customers in were a bloke at the bar engaged in conversation with the barman, and a couple of builders in high visibility jackets (presumably from the building site opposite) sinking their pints of lager. It looks as if a lot of money has been spent on making this place look as charmless as it does. It's not for me.

On 12^th February 2017 - rating: 3
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